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But it helped more than that - 716 people - in just the first seven months of this financial year - between April and October 2017.

At the London Road station, from Thursday until Sunday between 9pm and 7am, homeless people were given shelter inside a meeting room at the station.

They were not allowed within the area where fire crews were operating, and were supervised by community protection officers.

They were not offered beds, but instead shelter from the sub-zero temperatures outside.

Six people attended on the first night, and about eight were given shelter each night over the weekend.

The opening of the fire station was a pilot scheme run by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue, Nottingham City Council community protection officers (CPOs), homelessness charity Framework and British Red Cross volunteers.

Bosses of the programme said the trial was so successful that they now hope to open the fire station every time temperatures drop below freezing.

South group manager for the fire service Damien West said: "As a service our goal is to create safer communities, and sometimes this goes further than things such as fire and road safety.

"We’re really pleased that, by working collaboratively with our partners at the city council and British Red Cross, we’ve been able to offer up one of our sites to support some of the most vulnerable people in Nottingham."

Red Cross volunteers helped in the station overnight, and in the future will come to help when the Met Office forecasts freezing temperatures.

The London Road station is less than half a mile away from Framework's 45-bed accommodation facility.

Portfolio holder for planning and housing, Councillor Jane Urquhart, said: "We've responded to an increase in homelessness by funding services that ensure nobody need sleep on the street in Nottingham this winter, as well as committing to £35m of funding over the next nine years to continue our work on preventing homelessness.

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"Using the fire station as an emergency shelter in extreme weather gives us one more option on top of all those measures already in place.

"It may prove helpful in cases where people are resistant to accepting support, but who need to get out of the extreme cold for their own health and well-being."

Senior emergency response officer for the British Red Cross in Nottinghamshire Madeline Farrar said: “British Red Cross volunteers will be on hand to offer a friendly welcome in a safe and warm environment. We will provide hot drinks, sleeping bags, blankets and emotional support.

“We will also have warm, clean clothes, kindly supplied by Sharewear Clothing Scheme in support of the sit-up service.

“We can also liaise with the council and other charities who can offer additional support to people.”

Dean Gillen, chairman of the Fire Brigades Union’s (FBU) Nottinghamshire branch, said: “It’s a good thing to get people off the street and we’re definitely supportive of that.

“I just feel that homelessness is a complex issue and although this is a nice gesture from the fire service and council, unfortunately it’s only a temporary solution and more needs to be done to address the issue.

"I have no safety concerns because the site is secure and they can’t access certain parts of the building without an ID card, so there’s no problems with access if a fire engine goes out.”